Wednesday, September 19, 2018

There's not much that can get the heart thumping like a good ole urban mystery. Mix in a lost baby girl, a potential massacre, and an overwhelming lack of evidence, and you have an enduring legend, one that has sparked imaginations throughout the centuries. Few legends capture the American imagination more than the Lost Colony of Roanoke. The colony, which was established in 1587, consisted of men, women, and children and was the hopeful project of John White and Sir Walter Raleigh, both of England. However, by 1590, when John White returned to North America to check on the colony, all of the settlers had vanished. There was a single clue: "CROATOAN", carved into a tree.

Lawler does not quite believe in the concerned colonial rescuers theory.

Since then, rumors, theories, and speculations have swirled around the colony and its missing inhabitants. Local assimilation, a massacre, disease, and alien abduction are just a few of the theories explaining the disappearances. The story has been handed down through generations of Americans, yet no definitive evidence or solution has ever been found. Enter Andrew Lawler. He tackles the disappearances, the history, and the subsequent searches for clues in his 2018 book, "The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke." Right off the bat, the reader will note a huge issue with the book- the 'lost colony' is still obviously lost, very lost, so what's the point of the book? If you are looking for a solution, then this is not your book. Lawler does not try to answer the centuries old question of what happened to the Roanoke colonists; instead, he delves into the reason of why this one blip in history still fascinates the American public and why people still obsessively work to figure out what happened.

Lawler begins with a brief historical overview of the time period and the events leading up to the colony of Roanoke being established and it's subsequent abandonment by founder, John White. Lawler then delves into the history of the search for answers. He traces theories and their developments and failures. He visits sites along the East Coast and interviews people who have devoted their lives, time, and money to 'finding' the lost colonists. He does not dismiss any claim outright nor does he subscribe to any wholeheartedly. The book fleshes out the mysticism behind the lost colony and the human reaction to a story where the characters just disappear off the face of the map. This is not a story about the lost colony or the colonists. Lawler writes a story about how sailing for the New World was Elizabethan precursor to the American Dream. This, coupled with a group of people chasing it met uncertain ends, has shaped the American notion of survival and determination. He writes about how missing baby girl, Virginia Dare, is now the poster child for lost innocence. He writes about the local Native Americans' part in the story has evolved over time from being the savage murderers of the colonists to the benign benefactors who might have taken them in. It is a story about our original national legend coloring our history as Americans and how we as a nation relegate stories of survival into lore, hoping for a story of triumph.

Author, Andrew Lawler

This is a well researched, well written book. Lawler took a topic that can explained in two or three paragraphs and turned it into a comprehensive, interesting narrative. He admits getting swept into the Roanoke mania and takes the reader along for the ride. "The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke" is will not give you new insight into the disappearance of the lost colonists. Instead, it will give you insight into people's willingness to believe in lore and legend and how one legend in particular has defined the makeup of a national American identity.

Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Have you downloaded the library’s new mobile
app? NO! You are so missing out! Are you a current app user still using the old
one? Don’t worry. All your account information such as checkouts, holds, etc.
will carry over to the new app so DON’T
WAIT. It’s available in the App Store and the Play Store. It’s so easy to find
it. Just search for “calcasieu” in the
appropriate store.By the way, the new app’s image
includes our new mascot, Pierre the Pelican.

Okay, I know what you’re thinking. What’s so cool about this new app? Get that cup
of coffee or tea and get ready to be wowed. Where to start? What about finding
stuff in the collection. Not only can you search or browse for books, music,
movies, etc., but you can do this in real time. What does that mean? As soon as
titles are added to our collection, they can be found within the app. So? With
our old app, that’s not the case so YOU ARE missing out on some GREAT TITLES.

While searching/browsing for titles in this new app, you can filter by format
or filter titles by what they are. What does that mean? Here’s an example. By
using the filtering option, you won’t have to scroll through tons of pages of physical
books when your preference is eBooks. Just browse through the list of eBooks.
Yes, that might be tons of pages too, but that’s a good thing, right? 😊

Another feature within this app is the built-in virtual card. I know the old
one had it too, but now it’s displayed right on the front page of the app, so
you don’t need to dig for it.

And what about linked accounts? Got it! However,
in this case, you don’t need to log in and out to view checkouts, holds, etc.
Just toggle between those accounts. Are you wowed yet? Pretty cool, right?

There’s so many other cool features just waiting for you, so come on, download it
and enjoy!

If you do want to read more about this app, or even take a moment to
view our preview video, visit this page.

Friday, April 20, 2018

Very rarely do I pick up books with covers that feature a fetching young woman in 1920's garb, looking resolute, worried, or scared. These always end up being campy, poorly written, and redundant. However, in 2013, I picked up The Haunting of Maddy Clare (2012) by Simone St. James and thought, "What the heck? Let's go for it." I read it in one day. It was full of intrigue, historical accuracy, clever women, fighting the patriarchy, sexual tension (St. James can paint a steamy picture!), and, possibly best of all, ghosts. I made my mother read it, I did an entire display around it at my library job, and then unfortunately for me, forgot about it. Fast forward five years later, when I check out Lost Among the Living (2016). I read the other five St. James novels in a month. And am still
obsessing over them.

Simone St. James

Simone St. James is a Canadian author who worked in television before becoming an author. She has made an excellent career shift. She has perfected her ability to write a book that not only intrigues the reader with a mystery, but also disarms the reader with twists and turns that keep you guessing until the end. St. James engages in cliched tropes in books... but somehow it works for her. She has the overdone post war setting; World War I has usually just ended in her books, but, under her, this time period is gritty, miserable, and confusing, a complete juxtaposition to the romanticized post war period often portrayed. She has ridiculously romantic situations, which are gripping and challenging, and add to the characters' growth in the story. The setting is usually some huge, crumbling mansion that people are desperate to maintain to keep some semblance of normalcy in their lives, despite the mystery and paranormal swirling around them. This has been done over and over in most gothic mysteries, yet seems new and compelling through St. James. It's insane how St. James manages to twist all of these standard plot devices and weave them into a story worth rereading. St. James' strength lies in her ability to write flawed heroines, women who fight the fight despite setbacks, but also recognize and struggles with their problems and mistakes. Readers can identify with her impoverish, but hopeful, sad, but resilient, clever, but humble protagonists. These women, however, are unapologetic for being who they are and that is their common strength. Enter the dashing hero who loves her for her. It is a cliched trope, but somehow, St. James makes these love interests interesting, flawed, and admirable. The reader is rooting for the characters' love connection.

Yet, love connections cannot detract from the main component in St. James' books: ghosts. Ghosts are difficult to write and authors unknowingly stumble into the pit of religious debate with life after death. However, St. James steers clear of this and creates her ghosts to be willing participants in seeking revenge for their deaths and solving mysteries perpetuated by the bad guys that endanger the living. These ghosts interact with the living and remain a constant source of anxiety and action throughout the book. There are no friendly ghosts; just ones that seek to discover the truth. Ghosts and their paranormal interactions is what propels St. James' books into the 'Must Read' category. It is rare to find an author who can have ghost, horror, and death without gore or extreme violence and still be fascinating. St. James has a style of writing that is clipped, precise, and peels like an onion, revealing bits and pieces of information slowly and methodically, until the reader is screaming with revelation at the end.

St. James' latest book, The Broken Girls (2018) is a slight departure from her usual. The story

Be still, my anxious heart...

bounces between the present and the 1940's at a girls boarding school. The two eras are tied together by a crumbling campus, death, and a ghost who reveals the worst moment of your life at the worst moment. The protagonist might be one of St. James' best; she is relentless, determined, almost impossible to sympathize with, and is so wonderfully realistic, you cannot help but root for her. The reader will take on her obsession and will be turning the pages until the dramatic conclusion. This book, unlike St. James' past books, focuses on human connection and the human experience rather than just a murder mystery. It focuses on the obsession of our inner demons and how evil from the past is never really done.

These books are must reads for anyone who appreciates strong women, mysteries, and the paranormal. They are quick reads, but the story will stay with you for a long time. The romance, the action, the mystery, and the strong writing keep the plot quick paced and before the reader knows it, they're in the middle of a riveting confrontation in a world where the lines between life and death are blurred. You cannot help but question the possibility of ghosts after reading a St. James book; besides, in their situation, what would you do to seek revenge?

GlobalGiving, which calls itself the largest global crowdfunding community, has a goal of raising $2 million for its Harvey relief fund. Funds will be used first for immediate needs of food, water and shelter and then transition to long-term recovery efforts.

United Way of Greater Houston has launched a relief fund for storm-related needs and recovery. The organization says it already maintains a disaster relief fund but anticipates the needs of Harvey will far exceed those existing resources.

Food

Feeding Texas is a statewide nonprofit that works alongside state and federal relief efforts. The organization says it steps in during major disasters to "coordinate with the state and other providers so that relief reaches families quickly and the 'second disaster' of an unorganized response is avoided."

Here is its list of food banks in Texas likely to be affected by Harvey:

People With Disabilities

Portlight Strategies facilitates projects involving people with disabilities, including post-disaster relief work. The organization says its hotline for Inclusive Disaster Strategies has received urgent requests from people in need.

Kids

The Texas Diaper Bank, based in San Antonio, works to meet the basic needs of vulnerable babies, children with disabilities, and seniors. It focuses on providing partner agencies with diapers and goods.

Animals

Austin Pets Alive! says it has transported more than 235 animals to its shelter. The organization seeks donations, as well as people who can adopt animals. It says it has received so many donated supplies that it's running out of storage space, so financial donations are what it needs most.

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths, the first book in the Ruth Galloway series, sat on my to-read shelf for a long time. The murder mystery description had caught my eye, but at the same time, the story line described seemed mystical and almost stereotypical in it's 'British woman with bad ass job saves the day' angle. After letting it sit there for a long while, I finally dove into this one. I regret that I didn't do it sooner. We are first introduced to British archaeologist, Ruth Galloway, through the discovery and exhumation of the body of a little girl, found in a salt marsh near Norfolk, England. She is met by surly Detective Chief Inspector, Harry Nelson, who expects Ruth to date the body in hopes that is the solution to a long time cold case. This brief bit of archaeological dating in tandem with the cold case intrigues Ruth, and she dives into a case that is much more complicated and much more deadly than she and Harry could have imagined.

I was right about my initial assumptions; this is a murder mystery, with subtle touches of mysticism, spiritualism, and other-worldliness. All of Griffiths' Galloway books have an archaeological slant, which alone creates an air of mystery. Most of the archaeological sites at the focus of each novel are from ancient times (Galloway's specialty) and have some type of religious/occult background; this element plays a part in the mystery and sometimes, tends to help the solution as well. The mysteries in this series vary. Some of gruesome and complex and have the reader on the edge of their seat. Others are simple, rather predictable. However, these simple mysteries allow Griffiths to explore the dark side of people; the mystery is not the main part of the story, but rather the dark, complicated natures of those involved are the story. Writing about the complexity of people and their relationships with others is where Griffiths excels. The characters are written simplistically. Griffiths does not flesh out her characters in description; rather, she uses inner thoughts and character interactions to illustrate the personalities of her characters. The minor characters are just as enthralling and colorful as the major characters, and all play intrinsic roles in each story. There are cops, druids, kids, crazy parents, and significant others that not only develop the main characters, but also help to push the story along. These characters, although minor, become as important to the story as the main, and the reader will become just as entrenched with them as they do with the main characters.

Author Elly Griffiths

There is a certain 'Britishness' about this series which makes it awesome. Griffiths throws in British colloquialisms that make the words come alive. The characters show a particular stoicism that is definitely a British stereotype, but, in the series' case, helps create a quiet feeling of impending urgency and doom. The quiet, reserved interactions between the characters create a feeling of withheld information that will reveal itself throughout the course of the story. Ruth herself is a quiet, reserved hot mess; her personal life is a disaster, she struggles with choices between personal and professional, but she almost always presents a persona of a knowledgeable, collected academic . This makes Ruth more relatable, as she plows through life and cases wildly, but also keeps calm and carries on, even in the face of disaster. The descriptions are just enough to give you a vague idea of the settings and of physical appearances; otherwise, Griffiths dedicates the word count to ideas, thoughts, dialogue, and action. This series gets back to the roots of the mystery genre; nothing cozy, cutesy, or cookie cutter about these books, only the human condition, darkness, and history that still drives people to greatness or madness.

Do not, I repeat, do not be a Megan and let this series languish on your 'To-Read' shelf. You are doing yourself an injustice. These stories are excellent examples of what could happen when history meets the present and how it can spell dark disaster.

Thursday, June 29, 2017

Recently, I have embarked on a new, rather morbid fascination with nonfiction featuring shipwrecks and the stranded crew's quests for survival. This is a departure from my usual crime spree nonfiction and my love for political nonfiction. Shipwreck: the very word conjures up images of carnage, desperation, survival, unkempt beards, cannibalism, and the ultimate battle between the forces of nature and man. As a society, we have romanticized the idea of a shipwreck, of the castaways stranded, and of the epic battle to get home. There is absolutely nothing romantic about Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred LansingandIn the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick. These are stories of horrible circumstances, lives in peril, the brutality of nature, the despair and hopelessness that come with the dawning realization that they are probably not going to survive. Nevertheless... I hate to admit, these books, although stark, gritty, horrifying, and enthralling do nothing to dispel the myth of the rugged sailor making life and death decisions and prevailing over the environment. Once immersed, the reader will realize that these are also stories of strength, grit, perseverance, hope, faith, and the discovery of what mankind's spirit is truly made of when confronted with doom. The shipwreck, which is a momentous disaster, is just the beginning...

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick was published 2000 and won the National Book Award for Nonfiction that same year. It traces the voyage of the Essex, a whale ship out of Nantucket that served as the inspiration for Moby Dick by Herman Melville. The Essex was commissioned to venture into the Pacific Ocean and hunt sperm whales, a valuable source of whale oil in the 19th century. In 1820, more than year into their voyage, a sperm whale bull attacked and sank the ship, leaving 20 men stranded on small whaling boats, adrift in the Pacific. The tale inevitably devolves in tough decisions, bad decisions, desperation, death, and an unlikely ending. In the Heart of the Sea weaves a tale of a disaster that affected a crew, a community, and became a grave warning that resonated throughout generations of sailors: do not underestimate nature. He is sparse with his descriptions, focusing on drawing out the action and the development of the crew members as they changed from everyday sailors to survivors. Drawing largely from the account of Thomas Nickerson, the 14 year old cabin boy who was one of the few survivors of the ordeal, Philbrick's account of the Essex focuses less on the actual crash but more on the reactions, actions, and lack thereof from the crew. He develops the crew based on the historical evidence, primary resources, and personal accounts recorded from the survivors; the reader witnesses crew members either rise to occasion of survival or sink abysmally into despair. What makes this book so startling is that Philbrick does not shy away from pointing out the numerous mistakes and fatal decisions made that, if done differently, would have made this shipwreck just a mere inconvenience. However, Philbrick writes the tragedy with grace, understanding, and empathy. It never crosses the line into the sensational; this is not a sensational story meant to illicit shock and a fascination for gore. It is to remind audiences of the ultimate cost of fighting nature and the prices sometimes paid by men who considered the seas their real home.

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing was originally published in 1959. Comprised from the diaries kept by crew members and from lengthy interviews conducted by Lansing with the elderly remaining survivors, Endurance is an intimate portrait of the ill-fated exploration voyage to Antarctica in 1914. Unlike In the Heart of the Sea, Endurance could be considered the ultimate survival success story. Under the helm of Captain Ernest Shackleton, the Endurance sailed to Antarctica, became trapped in ice, and was eventually crushed from the pressures of the changing ice pack flows. This left the 28 man crew faced with surviving a landscape of nothing but ice and freezing water, not to mention the prospect of a more than 800 mile journey to inhabited land. Eventually, 28 men were rescued. Their ordeal became the poster child for successful survival, exemplary leadership, and unbreakable teamwork under dire conditions. Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage is more of a biographical account of the ordeal, rather than a typical historical nonfiction. Lansing does not spend time discussing the circumstances in which the Endurance sailed; the story is about the ship, the wreck, and the quest for survival. There is little speculation, interpretative insight, or later research in this book, just straight recounting of the facts. With this style and with the incredulous circumstances of the event, the narrative definitely reads more of a fiction action story than a true to life story. However, Lansing does an excellent job in building up hope, then dashing it, then rebuilding. The reader is constantly on the edge, wondering if the next page spells disaster or rescue for the crew.

These are two vastly different accounts of vastly different tragedies. However, these books are well worth reading around the same time. It is an interesting break down of how similar situations can have completely outcomes. I could recommend reading them in the order I presented here; the technological differences and progression of communication in less than a hundred years is incredible and no doubt had some impact on the events' endings. However, the human spirit and the basic instinct to survive has not changed much. Readers will be buoyed by the resilience of the crew members; these books, these memories of strength and courage might serve as a reminder that we are tougher than we think.